The WorldBlu Blog

Alexander Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer, author of Happy Hour is 9 to 5, a member of the WorldBlu Global Advisory Group AND a very dear friend of mine is someone you need to know about if you don’t already. Alexander is single-handedly helping to usher in a new era happiness, democracy and profits in the world of work and making thousands of lives all over the world better as a result.

Just the other day Alexander had a fantastic op-ed come out in the Christian Science Monitor entitled, “Yes, you can be happy at work.”

Alex’s main point is that Americans still don’t believe that work in and of itself can be a happy experience, unlike our counterparts in Scandinavia. Alex writes, “In Denmark, employees fully expect to like their jobs. Few Danes put up with bad management, stress, overwork, bullying, or anything else that makes us unhappy at work. What’s more, in Scandinavia in general, companies have a genuine commitment to their employees’ well-being.” [Read more. . . ]

I had the opportunity to learn about and also visit a couple of the amazingly happy (and democratically-run!) companies Alex talks about when I was in Denmark a little over a year ago. Those companies were Kjaer Group and Aarstiderne. I whole-heartedly agree with Alex’s point as well based on my experience over there. It’s a keen observation he makes and one we as Americans must consider more seriously.

I believe that part of the recipe for helping Americans feel happy at work is to have democratically-designed companies which people can fully engage in and feel that their work-life has meaning. I believe this is key to a lasting sense of happiness, both individually and collectively.

Alex and his message are being embraced all over the world in a HUGE way. In addition to his fantastic book (which I highly recommend) and his blog (which is read by hundreds of thousand of people, subscribe today!) Alex is now an official happiness superstar. He just teamed up with HP in the UK to help make workplaces happier!

Read all about it under his blog post entitled, “HP and I team up to make the UK happy at work.”

Lastly, here’s a sneak peak – Alexander will be speaking at the WorldBlu Live 2008 conference in New York City October 16-17, 2008. You don’t want to miss him, so mark your calendar now!